


Skin that shows in patches

by intherubble



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-27
Updated: 2012-09-27
Packaged: 2017-11-15 03:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/522551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intherubble/pseuds/intherubble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Liam had put any forethought into living with a makeup artist <i>slash </i>youtube beauty guru (as Louis puts it, he hates the word <i>vlog</i>, thinks portmanteaus are gauche) he probably should have expected something like this eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skin that shows in patches

Liam’s not entirely surprised when Louis tells him he’s a makeup artist after they first meet, he knew there had to be a reason he hadn’t been able to look away from the smooth curve of Louis’ cheekbone all night, swelling when his mouth pulled wide to laugh. Though it had probably more to do with the vitriolic shots Zayn forced on him before disappearing to go hit on the blonde bartender with the tank top and brogue, the staring thing doesn’t really let up in the ensuing eight months.

But it’s certainly not the first thing he learns about Louis. No, that bit of information comes after the knowledge that Louis isn’t one for awkward ice breakers (instead going for hooking a finger through Liam’s belt loop and humming _you’re cute_ through a 1000-watt smile), is apparently an exception to Liam’s strict rule of not going home with strangers from bars (Liam goes to have words with Zayn about this the next day because _what if Louis’ skin was so perfect because of serial killer reasons?_ to which Zayn responds that he tried to intervene but Liam had managed to fervently wave him off without taking his hands out of Louis’ back pockets), and he enjoys belgian waffles with three cups of black tea when he’s hung over (which Liam finds out the next morning when he stumbles into an unfamiliar kitchen, rubbing at unfamiliar marks on his neck, to find Louis puttering around in a frilly apron and not much else).

The makeup artist part he learns over breakfast when he’s trying to make standard morning-after-one-night-stand small talk. He’s under no impression that he did the seducing the night before but now he’s not sure how he had even managed to get any words out at all because Louis’ attention focused on him makes him feel like his throat is trying to swallow his tongue.

After Liam offers that he’s a personal trainer, not missing the way Louis’ eyes drop to his arms and glaze over slightly, Louis shakes his head slightly and declares, “I’m a makeup artist.”

It’s said with a bit more force than necessary, like he’s expecting Liam to mock him for it, sweeping aside his fringe so his eyes are shielded for a moment and tacking on, “...also part time internet celebrity.”

In retrospect that’s probably when the rational part of Liam’s brain should have started making excuses for places he had to be, making for the door so he could start writing Louis off as some (beautiful) drunken aberration Zayn would rib him about for the next year, but the rational part of Liam’s brain was conspicuously silent when Louis asks him if he’d like to help him test out a new body scrub he’d just gotten in the mail.

(“Have you seen the bathroom?” Louis asks, trying way too hard to sound innocent, “there’s a bench in the shower. As someone concerned with people taking care of their bodies, I think you’d appreciate that I do like to be kind to my knees.”)

-

Liam’s pretty sure Louis tricked him into moving in with him, another thing the rational part of his brain dropped the ball on. One day he wakes up with Louis’ face smushed into his armpit and realizes he hasn’t been back to his place in almost a week, everything he needs to get by having somehow migrated into the empty drawers of Louis’ dresser (and since when did Louis have empty drawers?). He pretends not to notice when Louis nicks his keys on the pretense of feeling up his bum and furtively slips a shiny fresh-cut looking key onto the ring.

-

If Liam had put any forethought into living with a makeup artist _slash_ youtube beauty guru (as Louis puts it, he hates the word _vlog_ , thinks portmanteaus are gauche) he probably should have expected something like this eventually. It’s not the first time he’s being featured in one of Louis’ videos (Louis refuses to give him the password to his account so Liam has no way of taking down the compilation videos of him getting out of the shower or asleep curled up on the couch that have hundreds of thousands of views). Louis likes to spice up his channel with some variety so he’ll have Liam do tutorials on proper pull-ups (he _refuses_ to do them in his briefs) or Niall demonstrate ways to make fancy cocktails for cheap (you’d be surprised how many things you can mix beer with) or Harry give tips on flirting confidently (he signs off every video with _remember kids, consent is the sexiest part of sex!_ ).

Liam thought it was sweet at first that Louis seemed to be putting so much effort into getting on with Zayn, almost as if he was sucking up to him at times, but it meant a lot to Liam that Louis wanted to be close with his best friend and made sure to try just as hard with Harry, even if he usually only got a confused crooked half smile in return when he did. It turns out Louis was only after Zayn’s geometrically perfect face and his pretty pretty eyelashes.

(Zayn is strongly resistant to Louis coming near him with a kohl pencil at first but after enough perfectly mixed cranberry vodkas from his boyfriend and Louis throwing puppy eyes at Liam, like _he_ has the power to change Zayn’s mind, Zayn agrees. “Alright, you giant ponce! _One time_. But I’m washing this gunk off immediately if I don’t like it.”  Louis, apparently offended by the word _gunk_ , mutters something about how ‘at least it _is_ washable unlike the doodles Zayn is so fond of inking on himself’, but probably doesn’t want to blow this golden opportunity so he keeps it to a volume only Liam and Harry can hear.

Louis pulls Zayn into the bathroom for the lighting and sits him on the counter so he can stand in the space between his legs, sweep charcoal black over the edges of Zayn’s eyelids in expert motions. Liam knows that Louis doesn’t need to be pressed up that close to Zayn to get the lines right but he also knows Louis is fairly sloshed and acts like he’s kept alive by physical contact when he’s like that. “How do you feel about this?” He asks Niall, the other three of them watching from the doorway with a curiosity he wouldn’t exactly call morbid.

“Not...,” Niall lifts his fat brimmed cap to ruffle at the hair underneath and Liam kind of wants to kick him in the shin because he can _see_ Niall’s eyes traveling from Zayn’s ankle hooked at Louis’ knee, up Louis’ thigh to his arse (if there’s one thing Liam’s jealous and possessive over it’s that),  “... not bad _at all._ ”

It’s pretty obvious how _not bad_ Niall finds it from the way his eyes darken, chewing a hole through his cheek, when Louis finishes with a flourish and lets them get a good look at Zayn’s eyes winged out in black and his lips plumped up red with stain.

“Whattya think?” Louis is blatantly pleased with himself, tilting Zayn’s chin this way and that on display so his neck strains and eyelashes flutter. Niall makes a guttural noise in the back of his throat and is on Zayn two seconds later, practically climbing him on the counter and pressing their mouths sloppily together despite Louis’ squawking about his hard work.

After that Zayn’s usually pretty consenting to Louis using him as a model for his videos, wearing the make-up home most of the time, and Liam swears he’s always walking slightly funny the next day.)

But this is different because Louis is asking him to do something that he’s not a pro at and Liam goes a little hot and jittery at the possibility of over half a million people laughing at his ineptitude.

“Babe, relax.” Louis slides over Liam’s knees to straddle him where he’s sitting on the bench in front of Louis’ brightly lit and mirrored makeup table. “I showed you the videos, you’re _supposed_ to be bad at it. That’s what makes it endearing,” Louis flicks him on the nose, “not that you need any help with that.” Liam tilts his mouth up at the corner in an almost smile, he wants to do this for Louis, he’s been childishly excited about it ever since Liam agreed and it’s pretty adorable how thoroughly he’s prepared: all the brushes freshly cleaned and lined up in rows with sleek black palettes and flesh colored bottles. The camera’s already set up, positioned in a way Liam’s sure Louis has triple checked is the perfect angle to frame his cheekbones.

Louis smooths his hands over the line of Liam’s shoulders, still a little tensed up, and makes a frustrated noise before dipping into catch Liam’s mouth with his own. And this, this Liam can do, could do it for _hours_ (has done). Liam’s bigger than Louis but he still loves the feel of him ontop of him, the solid weight holding him down, the way he can run his hands up Louis’ thighs to the small of his back to gather him closer. He feels Louis’ mouth spread to a smile on his, still kissing lazy and calming, but Louis’ smiles are infectious like the worst type of virus and they have to stop kissing because Liam can’t help grinning stupidly back.

He presses his face to Louis’ neck and breathes in, one last moment of comfort before he digitally records making a fool of himself. The thing about Louis always being sent beauty products to test, and hopefully promote to his clients, is that every other day he smells different: floral, musky, earthy, citrus.

(Louis is trying to teach Liam the basics of scent building and it’s a game now. Liam shuffles into the bathroom in the mornings and Louis’ll be brushing his teeth but tilts his neck so it’s all bared naked for Liam to bury his nose in.

“Mmmm....,” Liam murmurs, sliding his hands along Louis’ waist, up the warm expanse of his sides, “....bergamot?” and Louis hums in approval, still brushing his teeth absently but seemingly losing interest quickly the more Liam noses under this jaw. “There’s something...,” Liam takes another inhale, “...woody. At the base. But I’m not sure what it is.”

Louis spits a mouthful into the sink and grins back at Liam through the mirror, looking pleased in a way that makes Liam feel like he’s a puppy being scratched behind the ear, and lets Liam kiss the taste of mint off his lips.

When Liam can’t get the notes right Louis says perspiring makes scents stronger and since Louis doesn’t _do_ exercise there’s only one easy way to get him to break a sweat. Liam thinks Louis is catching on to the fact that he _can_ tell the difference between lemon and lavender, but neither of them mind the extra lessons.)

Louis smells of the cologne he always goes back to over anything else, Liam’s favorite, loves fucking Louis into the sheets that much harder when he wears it in the hopes the spicy sandalwood scent will linger in the threads when Louis goes away.

Liam growls and sets his teeth on Louis throat, not biting, just laying them there, having Louis’ aroma surrounding him like this kicking up the thrum of arousal that’s pretty much a constant when he’s around. He can feel the vibrations in Louis’ chest when he laughs, “Down, boy.” But when Liam pulls back he can see the skin of Louis’ neck all broken out in goosebumps, wonders if he could just take Louis to bed and make him forget about the video.

Doubtful.

Louis swings a leg over so he’s sitting next to Liam on the bench, the both of them facing the camera like it’s an entity that it would be rude to ignore. Louis’ hand makes an aborted motion towards the it but pulls back and nudges his knee against Liam’s, warm and firm. “If you find it that awful we can stop okay? But I’m sure you’ll do spectacularly. You’ve watched my videos before, _don’t think I don’t check your browsing history Liam Payne_ , so you’ve learned from the best.”

Liam shoves him with his elbow, “ _twat_ ,” swoops in to grab a kiss to make up for it after. He _has_ watched Louis’ videos before, of course he has. It’s just... usually only when Louis is away on a fashion shoot or something so he’s missing him and Louis is always making pouty kissy lips at the camera or sultry looks from under his eyelashes to show off the makeup’s effect and... Liam usually ends up rewinding the video with his left hand, none the wiser as to how to properly smoke out eye shadow.

So he’s left wishing Louis’ smile didn’t turn him into such a horny teenager so he could’ve paid better attention because Louis is reaching out and switching on the camera and Liam’s face muscles are trying to smile at it but they’re straining and cramping like they’ve never done it before.

Louis records his standard intro where he introduces himself (he doesn’t add music or text overlay because he says that’s just an excuse to be tacky) then segues into the part where he addresses anyone who posted rude comments on his last video and verbally demeans them using anything he was able to glean from their channel.

Liam sits there uselessly during that part, eyes flicking between Louis’ mouth moving and the camera lense, wondering how old _bieberfeva5eve69_ is and if they’ll need therapy after watching this. “Now!” Liam startles slightly, he’s apparently relevant to the goings on now, “you all remember my hubby Liam right?” Louis says _hubby_ in an over saccharine voice, pinching Liam’s cheek between thumb and forefinger and making him swat him away. Liam imagines after that sentence Louis will edit in a montage of Liam flossing in his pants or drooling over himself while napping in case anyone isn’t a subscriber and hasn’t already been treated to that on a regular basis.

“...and _he_ is going to do _my_ makeup, without any guidance from _moi_.” Louis makes a show of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key, smiling that squinty eyed smile that makes something twist in Liam’s chest no matter how many times he sees it. Liam gives the camera an awkward little wave and stares blankly down at the products littering the countertop. He probably should have been formulating a plan of action, his lack of foresight biting him in the arse again.

Liam knows putting on makeup follows some of the same general steps as painting a house, so his hand hovers uncertaintly in the air for a moment until he sees a white bottled labeled ‘ _primer_ ’ in neat print. He grabs it, makes a vague motion towards Louis’ face and Louis lifts his eyebrows in encouragement, a grin peeking at the corner of his mouth.

Liam’s not really sure what the consistency of this is going to be but there’s a pump on the top so he’s betting a spray? He lifts his hand with the bottle so it’s suspended above Louis’ cheek and Louis tilts his face accommodatingly. He doesn’t want to get any in Louis’ eyes so he cups a palm over them, concerned about the way Louis’ mouth is pulling shapes like he’s trying not to burst out laughing.

But he’s pretty sure he knows why when he presses the pump a few times and instead of the spritz he’s expecting a goopy liquid squirts out to plop on Louis’ cheek only to ooze down towards his chin. “Aw, christ,” Liam fumbles trying to figure out what to do, Louis visibly shaking from holding back his laughter.

Liam uses his thumb to swipe at the white goo so it doesn’t slide off Louis’ chin and Louis finally breaks at that, “well this seems familiar.” Liam makes a desperate mortified sound in the back of his throat and smacks Louis on the side but he’s too busy throwing his head back to laugh at his own innuendo to feel it and _god_ Liam’s mom and sister subscribe to Louis’ channel and this is going to be a fiasco.

He seems to remember that Louis is always using brushes instead of his hands to smooth out makeup so he picks one out at random from the ridiculous number of them on display, ignoring the sassy eyes that Louis makes at the camera. He tries to even out the blob that’s just on one side of Louis’ face but when ever he goes near with the brush Louis tries to nip at it like a dog with a chew choy, snapping his teeth. “St-stop,” Liam hates that he finds it cute and is smiling like an idiot so he grabs Louis chin to keeping him still, hates even more the glint in Louis’ eye meaning that was his plan to begin with.

Foundation is the obvious step after this, or at least Liam hopes it is, now Louis’ face is all matte and smooth looking. He picks the flesh colored bottle that looks the most well-used, figuring it’s Louis’ favorite. Liam grabs a thick brush some merciful designer had ‘ _foundation_ ’ carved into the side of and Louis hums his approval as Liam shakily dabs a little product from the bottle onto the bristles, all soft and downy and probably made from the tail of an animal Liam’s never heard of. He swabs it under Louis’ eyes, across his chin, the bridge of his nose. But when he goes for Louis’ forehead his fringe is in the way.

Liam makes a frustrated noise, looking for somewhere to put the brush down so it doesn’t make a mess and settles for clenching it in his teeth while he scrambles for one of the bobby pins he knows Louis has laying around. He can see Louis peeking at him curiously from under an eyelid, but seems to understand when Liam smooths his bangs aside to pin them back, leaning into it and purring like a cat. Liam can only imagine the stupidly fond look on his face the camera’s picking up as he runs a hand over the hair a few more times than is probably necessary. Playing with Louis’ hair is secretly one of his favorite things and Louis doesn’t let him do it that often.

He takes the brush out of his mouth and finishes covering his bases, painting a line of foundation across Louis’ forehead, can’t help whispering “ _Simba_ ” and they both giggle like children. He tries to smooth it all out, brushing in circles because he’s heard Louis use the word _buff_ enough but there are still lines and Louis won’t keep his eyes closed all the way so Liam can feel his gaze on him, this hot prickly feeling that makes his hands feel big and clumsy on the brush.

“Screw it,” Liam huffs, dropping the probably £50 instrument so it clatters on the counter, and shuffling closer to Louis so he can cup a hand to the back of his head, move his face to the side with gentle pressure. He uses the pads of his fingers to rub out the places where you can see the color gradient from skin to foundation.

They both go quiet, Liam’s fingers moving over Louis’ face in soft motions, Liam can feel the soft gusts of air coming from between Louis’ parted mouth. Something like this... Liam can feel himself getting mesmerised by the way his hands look on Louis’ skin, how hushed and intimate it feels when Louis’ eyes slip shut and relaxed. Louis pulls his bottom lip between his teeth when Liam’s touches turn from ministrations more to caresses and Liam has to pull back because he can hear the white static of the camera and doesn’t want anyone else to see Louis like this, wants it to be just for him.

But of course before he can Louis ruins the moment for him, moaning all exaggerated, “ _Oh yeah babe_ , just like that.”

“Prat,” Liam mutters, busying his hands with screwing the cap on the foundation bottle and trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do now. He’s pretty sure bronzer goes on at some point so it might as well be now. Only he’s not really sure what you use to put it on or where, just that Louis will probably finish with him if he uses too much and makes him look like an Oompa-Loompa.

He takes a gold compact and opens it to see a coppery powder pressed down into an intricate pattern. Louis watches him with curious eyes but doesn’t comment when Liam settles for a small dense brush pointed at the tip. He drags it through the makeup and it makes a groove in the powder, which is worrying because it looks used but with with no visible indentation which probably means this is the wrong brush.... well there’s no going back now, he thinks.

Liam holds his hand up but pauses with it in midair because he actually has no idea where this is supposed to go. Cheeks, nose, forehead? He wavers in indecision and Louis smirks, “C’mon stud, you always know where to put it.”

Eyes skittering to the camera, Liam chokes and pinches Louis on the thigh, “ _Cheeky_.”

The bristles rain shimmer as he sweeps the brush up the arc of Louis’ cheekbone and a stark brown line flourishes in its wake. Liam winces but does the other side just for symmetry's sake. Louis turns to the camera and roars like it’s warpaint and Liam wants to bury his face in a pillow. “Don’t worry babe it’s perfect, I look right _sunkissed_.”

With some effort he manages to make it look less like Louis has cinnamon smeared across his face. “Eyes?” Liam prompts hopefully, Louis just shrugs and bats his eyelashes but Liam’ll take that as a yes. He’s hoping he can get away with just smudging some colors on and being done with it but he’s sure Louis won’t let him off that easy.

There are massive palettes laid out, hundreds of shades outside of Liam’s ability to describe colors. His first instinct is to go with a bright blue for Louis’ eyes but knows enough that Louis would side-eye it, think it trashy, also call him out for being a sap. So he picks up a set filled with dark hues: midnight blue, ebony, indigo. Or at least that’s what the tiny labels tell him.

Louis is grinning all smarmy like he knows exactly why Liam picked blue but is refraining from saying anything, for now, as Liam tilts Louis’ chin so his eyes slide shut to provide a canvas. The brush is about the same width as Louis’ eye is high so Liam covers a large swatch with the first stroke, getting up under Louis’ eyebrow with the second, thinking he’s heard something about that. He gets both eyes before he lets Louis open but when he does Liam sputters out a choked off laugh.

“Oh _god_ ,” he mourns, not sure if he should lick his thumb and try to wipe it off, “you look as if you’ve been punched.”

Louis pulls a model face in the mirror and seems to ponder it, “...I like it... very nineties.” Then proceeds to vogue at the camera for good measure.

“Alright you great tit, can we just get this over with,” Liam huffs, grabbing at a tube that he thinks is mascara but the writing on the side is in French and he’s not about to make his tongue trip over those syllables reading them out.

The wand comes out of the sleek black tube with a _pop_ and Liam’s left holding it stupidly, not sure how exactly to go about this. Louis blinks at him expectantly and Liam has a very real fear of poking his pretty blue eyes out.

“Ok...um, close your eyes,” Liam tells him and Louis does... and Liam wasn’t really expecting anything else but for unexplainable reasons that punches something in Liam’s chest. Here he is with shaking hands holding a barbed poker that has the potential to blind Louis if his hand jostles the wrong way and Louis is complacently submitting without hesitation and Liam just...doesn’t know what to do with that and realizes the camera has probably just recorded him staring dazedly at Louis for a creepy amount of time because Louis is lifting one eyelid to check what the holdup is.

“What’s wrong?” Louis stage whispers, Liam jolts out of the weird hot fluttering in his chest and says, “nothing, nothing, shut ‘em.” But when Louis does again Liam ducks in to kiss him, sucking at Louis’ bottom lip for a moment so Louis makes a little pleased moan and tries to follow his mouth when Liam pulls back, his eyes still closed like Liam’s words were enough to blindfold him.

Liam knows his face is probably flaming because that was on film and Louis will probably refuse to edit it out. He dips the wand back in the tube to recoat it with product and leans forward again. He’s never really considered the logistics of putting on mascara and it seems like a precarious process. He tries to brush the eyelashes like you would hair with a comb but with Louis’ eyes closed his lashes are so close to his cheeks that the brush hits it and leaves little speckles of black. Louis giggles from the tickle and Liam chews the corner of his mouth trying to concentrate on the jittering eyelashes.

After two coats Liam’s satisfied and lets Louis opens his eyes. There’s splattering of black all across Louis’ cheeks so it looks like his eyelashes are just as long on the bottom as the top. “Very editorial,” Louis hums.

Liam shoves the wand back in place and throws the mascara back with the mountain of beauty products, grumbling, “ _Good_. That’s what I was going for.” A speck somehow made its way to the tip of his nose and Louis scrunches his face when Liam thumbs it off and Liam does absolutely not find it adorable.

Liam decides to forego eyeliner because he knows Louis will just end up looking like a second rate pharaoh who couldn’t afford a proper cosmetician or whatever the person who did your makeup was called in ancient Egypt. He’s hoping the only thing left to do is the lips so he picks up the first vaguely lipstick looking capsule he sees, snapping it open and dialing it up to find a dark ruby red.

Louis wags his eyebrows and purses his mouth dramatically and this will probably end badly. Again the theory of applying makeup is seeming to be easier than the practice, Liam’s not exactly sure how he’s supposed to hold the lipstick so he gets it in his hand like a pen but it’s an awkward angle for his wrist to bend at to reach Louis’ lips. It glides on easy when he has Louis relax his mouth to hang open, color blooming vivid in short strokes, but it’s uneven in places.

“Go..go like this,” Liam mimes rubbing lips together and smacking them apart.

“Like this?” Louis sounds overly coy and then is making crude mouth motions, shoving his tongue in the side of his cheek, looking even more obscene with his lips all scarlet and plump.

Liam hisses, “ _Stop it._ ” Louis’ followers really don’t need to know the way Liam’s neck pinks up when he has and erection, but they’re going to find out if Louis keeps on like that.

There’s a smudge of red on the skin just below the edge of Louis’ lip. Liam goes to rub it off with his thumb without thinking so he really deserves it when Louis turns and sucks the finger into his mouth immediately after. Really what was Liam expecting. But it doesn’t stop the shiver from running through Liam’s body, that he hopes the camera’s resolution isn’t good enough to pick up,  when Louis presses his tongue to the pad, making a show of hollowing his cheeks.

Louis actually goes to _bob_ his head and that's when Liam realizes he should be putting a stop to this despite the conflicting messages from his body. “Okay, okay,” he tries to sound unamused as he extracts himself, “okay, we’re done.”

“Ah, ah. Not so fast mister,” Louis says it while wiping wetness at the corner of his mouth and that is also doing nothing for Liam. “You forgot the blush. I can’t go out with no color in these cheeks!” Like Louis would actually step foot outside where people could get the impression he meant for his makeup to look like it was put on with a paint gun.

Liam makes a pleading noise and picks up the first thing that looks vaguely like blush, a rosy color somewhere between pink and red and Liam doesn’t know how to describe the color more than that. He doesn’t make the same mistake as the bronzer this time and takes a brush that puffs out. There’s still too much powder when he puts it on though, staining Louis’ cheeks in a bright rouge, giving Liam visions of the only times Louis looks flushed like that, sweaty and face mottled between Liam’s legs...and that thought needs to be shut down before it can start but Louis’s hand is creeping up his thigh like he knows exactly what Liam’s thinking.

“Can we be done now?” Liam croaks, trying to stop Louis’ hand but only ending up with their fingers tangled. Louis nods and turns to the camera so it can get a good shot of the final result and does his customary sign off, “ _You may not be plastic, but you are fantastic._ ” Then Louis is turning to him with this manic grin and tackling him so they go tumbling to the floor, rubbing his face up against Liam’s so the makeup smears and gets everywhere.

“Let’s leave the camera running,” Louis gets out over both of their laughter, “I promise I won’t post it... publicly.”  



End file.
